Could the Garrett Crochet Trade Help The Twins Shed Salary?

The Twins can trade either of their catchers and save some money, but before they subtract a catcher they need someone to take the spot. At the very least if someone goes, another quick move needs to follow, meaning an agreement to add a catcher was already in place more or less. It is really hard to play baseball without a catcher and it isn't like just anyone can even catch MLB pitchers. 

Seems like the Twins will be checking back with everyone in early January after the majority of free agents have settled with various clubs and teams are searching for trade opportunities.

Interesting how things get spun. First we read how bad Vazquez is then in the next paragraph it's how good he would be for the BoSox. Be consistent. So if we trade Vazquez all of a sudden our catching situation is as bad as Boston's is. Don't get me wrong, I've never liked this signing. But without him now our catching looks very bleak. Camargo could be the backup. The team has so much confidence in him that he doesn't get to play when he is in the show.

1 hour ago, Bob Twins Fan Since 61 said:

I had similar thought after reading about that trade.  Vazquez spend a bunch of years in the Red Sox organization.  They know him well.   Agree the return will be minimal.  I am in favor of doing it if salary saved is used to secure another asset that addresses (RH outfielder and LH relief pitcher) a weakness.  Though will need to find at least viable backup catcher to Jeffers.  Current roster options look weak at least for 2025.

Then they also need to sign a veteran catcher as well. A bunch of garbage catchers have been getting 8.5M a year so unless they dumpster dive they will end up spending a good chunk on a backup catcher.

Chicago now has 2 catching prospects. Have they soured on Quero? 

3 minutes ago, old nurse said:

Chicago now has 2 catching prospects. Have they soured on Quero? 

Don't think so. White Sox are adding as many pieces as possible to find out who can play. Three catchers are almost always needed to get through a 162 game season. The Twins have been incredible fortunate the last two seasons.

Well the Red Sox already traded for a backup catcher so they're not particularly interested. 

5 minutes ago, Matthew Lenz said:

I guess luck or "fortune" can be part of the explanation, but they've practically split their catchers 50:50 by design. Takes off a lot of wear and tear.

Oh I agree that the Twins have been proactive and kept the catching situation healthy by splitting duties. It is still good fortune/luck to go two seasons with just these two guys. Catching is incredibly hard on the body. I was a pitcher who wound up catching 100 plus games as a fill in. Tomorrow I go in for my fourth surgery on my knees (two each). Fun, but paying the price now. Until I actually caught two nine inning games back to back I didn't really know how hard it is on the body. 

6 hours ago, old nurse said:

Chicago now has 2 catching prospects. Have they soured on Quero? 

IMO Teel wasn't their 1st choice. The trade was fair but CWS wanted much more, For some reason they settled for this trade. Keel has the potential to be a very valuable elite catcher. Edgar Quero can hit but is far inferior to Keel as far as the defensive side. IMO Quero is still a good catching prospect but needs to develop his defensive skills more. 

It was only 2 years ago that the Twins were announcing this great free agent signing of a starting caliber catcher to shore up the position and mentor Jeffers, and never mind that paltry 30 mil we guaranteed him, it was well worth it.  Here we are 2 years later willing to take any minor return from whomever is willing to take the last 10 mil off our hands.  So.......which do we need more?  A catcher, or 10 mil?  Why do I think the answer to that question is going to go a long way to telling me how this season is going to go?  🫤

8 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Well the Red Sox already traded for a backup catcher so they're not particularly interested. 

A catcher that might profile similarly to Vazquez at 1/10 the salary. All it cost was a very high upside prospect.  

19 minutes ago, old nurse said:

A catcher that might profile similarly to Vazquez at 1/10 the salary. All it cost was a very high upside prospect.  

I wouldn't call the prospect particularly high upside. A fine but dime a dozen A+ pitching prospect. Something between Prielipp and Bowen. 

Plus international signing money they're gonna use to try to get Sasaki. 

Even before they traded Keel I thought Vazquez would be a good fit for them. I thought bundling both Vazquez & Paddack. But BOS would have their attention on more top-end SPs. IMO it's not a good idea to trade Vazquez because he's the foundation of the catching core, stabilizes the pitching, good leader, & we'd have to kick in a lot of money for someone to take him. Then spend money for a new inferior catcher who doesn't know the pitching staff. I'd rather trade Jeffers for many reasons I have stated many times before for a young promising MLB-ready catcher. IMO Vazquez isn't as interested in money as years, we can renegociate his contract for less per year.

1 hour ago, Mark G said:

It was only 2 years ago that the Twins were announcing this great free agent signing of a starting caliber catcher to shore up the position and mentor Jeffers, and never mind that paltry 30 mil we guaranteed him, it was well worth it.  Here we are 2 years later willing to take any minor return from whomever is willing to take the last 10 mil off our hands.  So.......which do we need more?  A catcher, or 10 mil?  Why do I think the answer to that question is going to go a long way to telling me how this season is going to go?  🫤

That’s well said! The Vasquez signing was always a head scratcher given the cost for three years. The team is no longer in win mode, just salary dump mode, and moving Vasquez for nothing, if they can, will be an example. The actions of ownership clearly shows it is indifferent to winning after the taxpayers gave them a new beautiful ballpark, raising the team’s value. Do you think the Polhads will give some of the profit from the sale back to the taxpayers? Just kidding! We know that answer, don’t we!

I had actually posted that the Red Sox were a good possible destination for Vasquez before the trade that sent Teel out to bring Crochet in, and I stated it again after the trade was made.  Matthew...are you reading my posts???

Yes, the Red Sox Sox did make a minor deal with the Yankees to bring Carlos Narvaez in, but this is CARLOS Narvaez...NOT Omar Narvaez.  Omar was a solid catcher who could hit a little.  CARLOS is a bit of a mystery.  He has all of 13 AB's in his major league career at 26 years old.  

I must confess I know little about Carlos.  I've never seen a scouting report etc...  Still, I think the Red Sox are desperate to compete this year, and Vasquez would be a major upgrade.  It's a certainty that the Twins should expect very little back if Boston were to take on the entire $10 million.  I would think Boston would be interested, and really, when it comes to Vasquez and a trade with our current ownership and FO, the primary objective is to shed the $10 million.

Since Narvaez has all of 13 AB's as a major leaguer, maybe Boston would swap him straight up for Vasquez.  That would give the Twins a bit of a backstop (pun intended) until a more consequential trade with the Dodgers centered around Rushing or Cartaya could be made.  The Red Sox are familiar and comfortable with Vasquez.  He makes sense for them.  Boston does NOT have to be the destination for Vasquez, but it's one of the better ones. 

I would actually like to see the Twins move Vasquez this year, bring in a Rushing or Cartaya, and then move Jeffers after the 2025 season, especially if Jeffers has a slightly above average offensive year or better.  I have never been a fan of Jeffers.  Too inconsistent offensively.  Too obviously lacking defensively.  Get a young guy to build around, see who has developed in our minor league system after this next season.  Has Cardenas improved his hitting?  Has Camargo improved his defense?  I'd like to see an entirely different catching tandem at a low controllable cost going forward starting in 2026.  

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

IMO Vazquez isn't as interested in money as years, we can renegociate his contract for less per year.

No you can't. What agent would agree to that? He sees FA catcher comps getting 2 years 13. So you want to make this renegotiated deal, 3 years $23? Deferring 2 million from this season? That's not moving the needle at all. 

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

That’s well said! The Vasquez signing was always a head scratcher given the cost for three years. The team is no longer in win mode, just salary dump mode, and moving Vasquez for nothing, if they can, will be an example. The actions of ownership clearly shows it is indifferent to winning after the taxpayers gave them a new beautiful ballpark, raising the team’s value. Do you think the Polhads will give some of the profit from the sale back to the taxpayers? Just kidding! We know that answer, don’t we!

Are you suggesting billionaires care only about capital and not their communities? How dare you!